179:, but halfway round the first of the 14-mile (23 km) laps, already timed at 135 mph (217 km/h) on one section, A R (Bob) Foster retired with plug trouble. Rusk completed the first lap at a record breaking average of 100.03 mph (160.98 km/h) and a lead of 34 seconds. On the third lap a fork link broke forcing retirement. It is believed that this was caused by mistaken fitment of a 7R fork link instead of the stronger V4 part during servicing.
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boost was reduced to 6 psi (0,4 bar). Instead of the previous pressure lubrication, oil was now added to the fuel. The new duplex frame had integral rear plunger suspension housings, and the Webb-type girder forks were now graced with a deep finned alloy 8-inch (200 mm) TLS front brake. The bike
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GP cars of the time used a larger Zoller supercharger. It made 51.5 bhp (38.4 kW) at 6000 rpm. All exhaust ports now faced forward, and a branched inlet manifold fed the engine with 8 psi (0,55 bar) of boost. The engine was now mounted in the same frame as the 500 cc OHC single TT
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Considerable work must have been done at the new AMC race shop, because the next version did not appear until 1938 and, when it did, it had a plunger rear suspension, better brakes, revised and lighter induction manifold, and raised compression. The engine had been mounted further back in the frame
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In 1935, at the
Olympia Show, the Bert Collier designed air-cooled 495cc sohc AJS 50° V4 was first displayed. It was a fully equipped road going version, which did not make it into production. This first version used a common crankcase with four individual cast iron cylinders and separate alloy
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heads, with exposed hairpin valve springs, and a 180° crankshaft with forked conrods. There was a central carburettor for each pair of cylinders, and fore and aft exhausts. The single overhead camshafts were chain driven. It had chain primary drive in an oil bath primary chain-case, and a
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The engine used by Walter Rusk in the Ulster GP, with 7.9:1 compression and 16.5 lbf/in² (114 kPa) of boost, made 55 bhp (41 kW) at 7200 rpm on a dynamometer.
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In 1939 the 405 lb (184 kg). dry sump V4 was the first bike to lap the Ulster Grand Prix course at over 100 mph (160 km/h). Then World War II intervened.
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The result was a water-cooled version with barrels and cylinder heads cast in pairs, and fitted with enclosed valves. All exhaust ports now faced rearwards. Initially a
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design with a radiator on each side of the front frame downtubes, an impeller type water pump was soon added to the left side of the crankshaft to further aid cooling.
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magazine, Issue: 121, Article: Ahead of the Game, Subtitle: Supercharged V4 AJS on test, Pages: 34 - 40, Publisher: Mortons Media Group (Horncastle, Lincolnshire UK),
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in the TT before the War, and was now AJS Sales
Manager. Walter Rusk did not survive the War, and Jock's mount was the bike Rusk had ridden. A week later at
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to improve rear cylinder cooling. A R (Bob) Foster rode one in the 1938 Senior Isle of Man TT, but it retired, from overheating, after only two laps.
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reported that the 'Sammy Miller' machine was refurbished and ran during August, 1979 "for the first time since it seized in Albi, France in 1946".
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and Jock M West took the first two places. Though capable of high speeds, the AJS V4s did not handle well, and blew head gaskets in practice.
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acquired the engine from Jock West thirty years later to rebuild the AJS V4 for his museum, he found the crankpin still seized.
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used a 21-inch (530 mm) front tyre, and a 19-inch (480 mm) rear. It had a six imperial gallon (27 L) fuel tank.
41:(1935 – 1939) started out as a prototype air-cooled V4 road bike, but became a water-cooled and supercharged racing bike.
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at the time that there would be the option of replacing the forward mounted chain driven dynamo with a
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Isle of Man TT two bikes, ridden by Walter Rusk and A R (Bob) Foster, were 11th and 13th in the
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for testing, wearing a Zoller supercharger, driven at half engine speed, and fed by a single
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In the spring of 1936 a new racing version with alloy barrels appeared at
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Where other companies might have cut their losses at this point,
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banned all forms of forced induction for motorcycle racing.
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AJS was already developing another supercharged engine, the
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and George Rowley rode the AJS supercharged V4s in the
138:In May 1939 A R (Bob) Foster entered one in the
62:. The AJS used a rigid frame with girder forks.
119:did not. They commissioned Matt Wright, former
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33:at the 2017 Stafford Classic Motorcycle Show
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185:In June 1946, the AJS V4 finally won, at
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318:. Accessed and added 30 September 2015
123:designer, to do a complete redesign.
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142:, but it flooded on the start line.
362:Motorcycles introduced in the 1930s
111:The water-cooled 1939 AJS V4 racer
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175:and a supercharged four-cylinder
332:Replica of Olympia Show AJS V4
83:racers, and used a four-speed
25:1939 AJS V4 racer restored by
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87:gearbox with a dry clutch.
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45:The 1935 Olympia Show bike
281:"The Sammy Miller Museum"
158:492cc Type 255 Kompressor
279:Hilliard, Frank (1997).
153:and the supercharged
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314:15 August 1979, p.17
96:Isle of Man Senior TT
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54:. It was stated by
291:on 5 December 2006
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285:Motorcycle Online
78:carburettor. The
16:Racing motorcycle
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352:Vintage vehicles
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311:Motor Cycle News
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287:. Archived from
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224:Motor Cycle News
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357:AJS motorcycles
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337:Kunis.nl AJS V4
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316:V-four fire-up!
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140:North West 200
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102:The 1938 racer
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92:Harold Daniell
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167:At the 1939
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132:Supercharger
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121:New Imperial
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60:supercharger
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31:Sammy Miller
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162:Georg Meier
346:Categories
295:25 October
231:References
72:Brooklands
52:wet clutch
27:the museum
268:1470-4463
169:Ulster GP
151:Senior TT
29:owned by
90:In 1936
258:Title:
191:Belgium
173:Nortons
145:At the
76:Amal TT
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187:Chimay
177:Gilera
85:Burman
39:AJS V4
297:2006
264:ISSN
199:Albi
147:1939
37:The
217:FIM
195:BMW
189:in
160:of
155:BMW
117:AMC
80:ERA
56:AJS
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239:^
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